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The current Google logo, in use since September 1, 2015

The Google logo appears in numerous settings to identify the search engine company. Google has used several logos over its history, with the first logo created by Sergey Brin using GIMP. A revised logo debuted on September 1, 2015. The previous logo, with slight modifications between 1999 and 2013, was designed by Ruth Kedar, with a wordmark based on the Catull font, an old style serif typeface designed by Gustav Jaeger for the Berthold Type Foundry in 1982.[1]

The company also includes various modifications or humorous features, such as modifications of their logo for use on holidays, birthdays of famous people, and major events, such as the Olympics.[2] These special logos, some designed by Dennis Hwang, have become known as Google Doodles.

History

In 1997, Larry Page created a computerized version of the Google letters using the free graphics program GIMP. The typeface was changed and an exclamation mark was added mimicking the Yahoo! logo.[3]

"There were a lot of different color iterations", says Ruth Kedar, the graphic designer who developed the now-famous logo in May 1999. "We ended up with the primary colors, but instead of having the pattern go in order, we put a secondary color on the L, which brought back the idea that Google doesn't follow the rules."[4] The font Catull was used, "I was trying to find something that was both traditionally tied to the beautiful fonts in the past and also had a very current and in some ways surprising ways", says Ruth, "I really loved the way that it had these very elegant stems and ascenders and descenders and also had these Serifs that were very, very precise and I wanted something that when you looked at it, it was very clear that it's something you haven't seen before".[5]

In 2010, the Google logo received its first major overhaul since May 31, 1999. The new logo was first previewed on November 8, 2009,[6] and was officially launched on May 6, 2010.[7] It utilizes an identical typeface to the previous logo, but the "o" is distinctly more orange-colored in place of the previously more yellowish "o", as well as a much more subtle shadow rendered in a different shading style.

On September 19, 2013, Google introduced a new "flat" (two-dimensional) logo with a slightly altered color palette.[8][9] The old 2010 Google logo remained in use on some pages, such as the Google Doodles page, for a period of time.[10] On May 24, 2014, the Google logo was slightly updated with some minor typographical tweaks, with the second 'g' moved right one pixel and the 'l' moved down and right one pixel.[11][12]

On September 1, 2015, Google introduced a controversial "new logo and identity family" designed to work across multiple devices.[13][14][15] The notable difference in the logo is the change in the typeface. The colors remained the same as with the previous logo, however, Google switched to a modern, geometric sans-serif typeface called Product Sans, created in-house at Google (which is also used for the Alphabet logo).[16]

Google logos
  • Initial Google logo from September 15, 1997 to September 27, 1998
    Initial Google logo from September 15, 1997 to September 27, 1998
  • Original logo in the Baskerville Bold typeface, used from September 28, 1998 to October 29, 1998. It uses a different color combination from the one in use today, with the initial "G" being colored green.
    Original logo in the Baskerville Bold typeface, used from September 28, 1998 to October 29, 1998. It uses a different color combination from the one in use today, with the initial "G" being colored green.
  • The logo used from October 30, 1998 to May 30, 1999, differs from the previous version with an exclamation mark added to the end, an increased shadow, letters more rounded, and different letter hues. Note that the color of the initial G changed from green to blue. This color sequence is still used today, although with different hues and font.
    The logo used from October 30, 1998 to May 30, 1999, differs from the previous version with an exclamation mark added to the end, an increased shadow, letters more rounded, and different letter hues. Note that the color of the initial G changed from green to blue. This color sequence is still used today, although with different hues and font.
  • The company logo changed to one based on the Catull typeface and was used from May 31, 1999 to May 5, 2010. The exclamation mark was removed, and it remained the basis for the logo until August 31, 2015.
    The company logo changed to one based on the Catull typeface and was used from May 31, 1999 to May 5, 2010. The exclamation mark was removed, and it remained the basis for the logo until August 31, 2015.
  • The logo used from May 6, 2010 to September 18, 2013, showing a reduced distance of the projected shadow, a change in the second "o" to a different yellow hue and a more flattened lettering
    The logo used from May 6, 2010 to September 18, 2013, showing a reduced distance of the projected shadow, a change in the second "o" to a different yellow hue and a more flattened lettering
  • The logo used from September 19, 2013 to August 31, 2015, showing flattened lettering and the removal of shadows
    The logo used from September 19, 2013 to August 31, 2015, showing flattened lettering and the removal of shadows
  • The logo used since September 1, 2015, featuring a new typeface, Product Sans. The colors remain unchanged from the previous logo.
    The logo used since September 1, 2015, featuring a new typeface, Product Sans. The colors remain unchanged from the previous logo.

Google Doodles

Main article: Google Doodle
The Google big logo when a background image/doodle is set on the home page

The first Google Doodle was in honor of the Burning Man Festival of 1998.[17][18] The doodle was designed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin to notify users of their absence in case the servers crashed. Subsequent Google Doodles were designed by an outside contractor, until Larry and Sergey asked then-intern Dennis Hwang to design a logo for Bastille Day in 2000.[19][20] Nowadays doodles are designed and published by a team of employees ("doodlers").[21]

The colorless Google logo used for the funeral of George H. W. Bush on December 8, 2018 and the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022, as well as for Memorial Day starting in May 2019

A colorless version of the logo is particularly used on a local homepage in recognition of a major tragedy, often for several days. This design was first used in April 2010 on the Google Poland homepage following the Smolensk air disaster that killed, among others, Polish president Lech Kaczyński. A few days later, the logo was used in China and Hong Kong to pay respects to the victims of the 2010 Qinghai earthquake.[22]

On September 7, 2010, a colorless Google logo going by the name of the "Keystroke Logo" was introduced, which lit up with the standard Google colors as the first 6 letters of a search query were entered.[23]

The colorless logo was used again on December 5, 2018, following the death of George H. W. Bush,[24][25] on May 27, 2019 for Memorial Day (and every Memorial Day holiday since), and on September 8, 2022, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. A black version of the logo was used for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II a week later on September 19, 2022.[26]

The logo is also used when switching to Dark Mode, but its a white logo instead of gray

Favicon

List of Google favicons
The Google "G" favicon used since September 1, 2015

Google's favicon from May 31, 1999, to May 29, 2008, was a blue, uppercase "G" on white background. It was accompanied by a border with a red, blue, and a green side.

On May 30, 2008, a new favicon was launched. It showed a lowercase "g" from Google, colored in blue against a white background, and originally was intended to be a part of a larger set of icons developed for better scalability on mobile devices.[27]

A new favicon was launched on January 9, 2009. It included a left-aligned white "g" with background areas colored in red, green, blue and yellow, with the top, bottom, and left edges of the "g" cropped.[28][29] It was based on a design by André Resende, a computer science undergraduate student at the University of Campinas in Brazil. He submitted it for a contest launched by Google in June 2008 to receive favicon submissions. The official Google blog stated: "His placement of a white 'g' on a color-blocked background was highly recognizable and attractive, while seeming to capture the essence of Google".[28]

The favicon used from August 13, 2012, to August 31, 2015, showed the small letter "g" in white, centered on a solid light blue background.

As of September 1, 2015, a new favicon was launched in conjunction with the new logo design that day, which shows a capital letter "G" in the tailor-made font for the new logo, with segments colored red, yellow, green, and blue.[30]

References

  1. ^ "Information about the typeface Catull BQS". Identifont. Archived from the original on August 8, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  2. ^ "Stress Cultlogos". Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  3. ^ "Happy Birthday Google!". ndtv.com. NDTV Convergence Limited. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  4. ^ Zjawinski, Sonia. "How Google Got Its Colorful Logo Archived 2013-12-04 at the Wayback Machine." Wired (Online magazine). February 12, 2008. Retrieved on January 5, 2010.
  5. ^ "Designing the Google Logo – An interview withRuthKedar". Logo Geek. 2019-04-21. Archived from the original on 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  6. ^ "Google Search's New Interface Being Tested Now". 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
  7. ^ "The Google design, turned up a notch". May 6, 2010. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  8. ^ Eddie Kessler: Updating the Google bar: many products, multiple devices – Inside Search [dead link‍]. Google Inc. October 25, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  9. ^ Chris Welch: Google reveals new logo and redesigned navigation bar [dead link‍]. The Verge. October 25, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10.25
  10. ^ "Doodles". Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  11. ^ "Before". Archived from the original on May 14, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  12. ^ "After". Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  13. ^ "Google's Alphabetized new logo is childish (who moved my cheese?)". computerworld.com. 2 September 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2015-09-04.
  14. ^ "Google's look, evolved". September 2015. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  15. ^ "Google's original logo designer reflects on a 'bittersweet' run". mashable.com. 2 September 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  16. ^ "Google and Other Tech Logo Changes". Surgo Group News. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Doodle 4 Google". Archived from the original on February 5, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  18. ^ "Burning Man Festival". August 30, 1998. Archived from the original on May 11, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  19. ^ Hwang, Dennis. "Oodles of Doodles Archived 2010-12-02 at the Wayback Machine." Google (corporate blog). June 8, 2004. Retrieved on July 19, 2006.
  20. ^ CNN. July 19, 2006. Retrieved on July 19, 2006.
  21. ^ Day, Elizabeth (2014-04-12). "Meet the people behind the Google Doodles". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  22. ^ Google Shows Colorless Logo To Chinese Users Over Qinghai Earthquake Archived 2013-03-02 at the Wayback Machine, Search Engine Land, April 20, 2010.
  23. ^ "Keystroke logo". Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  24. ^ Musil, Steven. "Google Doodle goes dark to mark President Bush's national day of mourning". CNET. Archived from the original on 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  25. ^ Bostock, Bill. "Google turned its logo a solemn grey to mark George H.W. Bush's funeral". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  26. ^ "Google turns logo black to mark Queen Elizabeth II's funeral". Dezeen. 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
  27. ^ Mayer, Marissa (June 6, 2008). "Official Google Blog: "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish". Googleblog.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
  28. ^ a b Mayer, Marissa. "Official Google Blog: Google's new favicon". Googleblog.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
  29. ^ "New Google Favicon". Googlesystem.blogspot.com. January 9, 2009. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
  30. ^ Yehoshua, Tamar & Nath, Bobb. (September 1, 2015). "Google's look, evolved". The Keyword. Retrieved November 2, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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